Here are your Liverpool evening headlines for Monday, January 25.
Van Dijk almost joined United
Virgil van Dijk's former Southampton teammate Charlie Austin has detailed how the centre-back nearly joined Manchester United.
Liverpool signed Van Dijk for £75 million in January 2018. However, since months prior, United chose Victor Lindelof over the Dutch international, as Austin revealed.
"I remember at the back end of his Southampton career we were on the bench together at Chelsea, and I said to him ‘come on Virg, what’s going on? Surely Man United must have been in for you’," he told talkSPORT.
"He said to me, ‘in the summer, it was between me or Lindelof’. I couldn’t believe it, I was gobsmacked. There was talk in the summer that he was going to go there and they got Lindelof instead.
"The manager was (Mauricio) Pellegrino at the time, and in the summer he (Van Dijk) was looking to go.
"I remember him (Pellegrino) getting everybody round in pre-season, everyone on the pitch including Virg, and just said ‘look lads, Virgil wants to go, the club are not allowing him to go, so he says he’s not going to play so he’s not going to train with us’, in front of everyone.
"He (Van Dijk) was gobsmacked, there was no heads up from the manager or anything. It was more down the line of stamping his authority.
"Two days later, the transfer window shut and Virg was starting again on the Saturday. He apologised to the lads, but we just said ‘Virg, we understand, you were linked with Liverpool and you wanted to go, it’s fine by us’, we were just happy that he was here because of the quality that he brought."
Liverpool linked with Derby youngster
Liverpool are confident of signing Derby County youngster Kaide Gordon, 16, for an initial fee in the region of £1 million which could rise to £3 million.
Gordon has been compared in playing style to Mohamed Salah and Mason Greenwood and was named Derby’s Academy Player of the Year last season.
A left-footed wide player who likes to play off the right flank, Gordon cannot sign a professional contract until he is 17 in October. However, as was the case with Harvey Elliott, Liverpool are in pole position to sign him to a new deal.
Derby are struggling financially and Liverpool are increasingly eager to sweep up the most talented young players, making this deal a likely one to be completed.
Klopp's Tuchel verdict
Jurgen Klopp has already given his verdict on Thomas Tuchel, who is set to replace Frank Lampard as Chelsea's new manager.
Klopp, who knows Tuchel well and managed Borussia Dortmund before the German, praised his compatriot's influence at Paris Saint-Germain, who he took to the Champions League final last season.
"A fantastic, fantastic manager. You can see really his influence, it has changed a lot their style of play, how they play, different formations and stuff like that. I know a lot of people who have worked with him, they all are full of respect for him," Liverpool boss Klopp said of Tuchel.
"You cannot be in the Champions’ League only because of spending money, that is not how it is. You need to have on the pitch a good organisation, because all the others we are not blind. We do our job as well and you need to have the right tools in the right moments and Thomas has that.
"It is not about being loved by your players, it is about they should believe they are the right decisions and the closer you are, the more they will think about it.
"We are not perfect, I am not perfect, Thomas is not perfect, nobody is perfect. It is easier if you like each other."
